Graham Greene, the Canadian First Nations actor who garnered an Oscar nomination for his work in Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves,” died Monday after a long illness, according to media reports. He was 73.
“He was a great man of Morals Ethics Character and will be eternally missed,” his agent Michael Greene said in a statement to the TheWrap on his passing. “We love you, my brother Greene. God bless you. You are finally free. Susan Smith is meeting you at the gates of heaven.”
Greene was born in Ohsweken, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario in 1952. By the 1970’s he was working in professional theater in Toronto and England. His first film credit was the Canadian film “Running Brave” in 1983. By the end of the decade Costner had cast him in “Dances with Wolves,” based on the novel by Michael Blake, which earned Greene an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Throughout the next few decades, he appeared in a number of high-profile films – Michael Apted’s “Thunderheart,” Richard Donner’s “Maverick” (based on the classic television series), John McTiernan’s “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” Richard Attenborough’s “Grey Owl” and Frank Darabont’s “The Green Mile.” He would continue to have supporting roles in films like “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” Taylor Sheridan’s “Wind River,” Scott Cooper’s “Antlers” and Aaron Sorkin’s “Molly’s Game.”
He also had a successful television career. Just in the past few years he popped up on Sheridan’s “Tulsa King” and “1883,” had an outstanding guest role on “Reservation Dogs” and was one of the highlights of Marvel Studios’ limited series “Echo.” This all in addition to earlier guest spots on “Murder, She Wrote,” “L.A. Law,” “Northern Exposure,” “Longmire” and “Riverdale.”
Greene was one of those actors who elevated any project that he was a part of. He was an actor of extreme nuance and complexity – he bucked against the typical First Nations portrayal of being stoic and slightly mystical. He embraced the reality of each character. They were grumpy, funny, unhinged, wacky. Greene reflected the world around him beautifully and the worlds of television, film and theater are lesser for the loss.
He is survived by his wife, Hilary Blackmore, his daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene and his grandson Talo.
Deadline was first to report the news.
